The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has imposed nearly $200 million in fines on the largest U.S. mobile carriers—AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint—for illegally sharing access to customers’ location data without their consent. The regulatory action concludes a years-long investigation into how these telecommunications giants failed to implement reasonable safeguards to protect highly sensitive user information.
The investigation, which began in 2019, found that the carriers sold access to their customers’ location data to third-party data aggregators. These aggregators then resold this information to a wide range of other companies and individuals, creating a downstream market where the data was used for purposes far beyond its original intent. The FCC’s inquiry was spurred by reports that this data had been accessed by bounty hunters, stalkers, and other unauthorized parties, posing significant risks to consumer safety and privacy.
In its final orders, the FCC detailed how the carriers continued these practices for years despite knowing about the security flaws in their programs. AT&T faces the largest penalty of over $57 million, followed by T-Mobile at more than $91 million (including the penalty for Sprint, which it has since acquired), and Verizon at over $46 million.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stated that the carriers had “failed to protect the information entrusted to them” and “left vulnerable the data on their customers’ location that is at the heart of modern mobile service.” While the carriers have argued that their location-sharing programs were legitimate and had been shut down prior to the investigation’s conclusion, the FCC’s decision sends a powerful message to the industry about the critical importance of protecting consumer data privacy in an increasingly connected world. The ruling underscores a growing focus by federal regulators on holding major technology and telecom companies accountable for data stewardship.
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